Eating Right while Pregnant

Its tough right when all you crave is ice cream or chocolate or the thought of lettuce makes you even more nauseous. I don't mind giving into a good pregnancy craving once in awhile (birthday cake remix @ Coldstone) but there have to be boundaries. Pregnancy is not a get out of jail free card to eat whatever you want. In fact it is one of the most important times to be conscience of what you are eating and activity levels. There are many different health concerns that could come into play if you aren't in control of your decisions while pregnant and those choices can affect your unborn child as well.


I give myself a monthly schedule or foods I am going to eat. I use Sundays to prep all of my meals for the week which will not be eaten at home so lunch and snacks while at work. This is generally simple but you have to be scheduled and conscience of your choices. I avoid most processed foods and eat as must from natural ingredients as possible. I know with my schedule it would be much easier to grab something from anywhere or to stick with microwave meals. But I like to be in control of EVERY ingredient in my meals. Enough about that I am not saying limit calories or count calories I am going to make this simple. Eat foods from the outside aisles at the grocery store (think cheeses, meats, fruits and veggies) and dont over indulge. I do pack a hefty lunch bag every day. I am generally eating every 2-3 hours when my schedule allows that way I am never in a hunger mode. Each time as I approach meal time I know I am hungry but I am not overwhelmingly hungry leading me to over eat.


Controlling cravings...unfortunately you don't have control over what you crave (ice cream and pickles obviously) but you do have control over how you respond to those cravings. I generally do not say no to cravings if I am legitimately hungry and I have kept myself in check with eating that week. I judge that by looking back at my calendar and if I stuck with my plan 90% of the week I can splurge. I also let cravings go and if they continually come back more then 3 times in one week I will give in.